Tatted Train Triumph!

Mini-Boss loves it!

Forgot to post this pretty piece tatted by Ladytats. Great colour, isn't it? 

Thank you Ladytats for the package. The Scottish Thistle is already on the shuttles...

I didn't realize one receives a cash award for winning a ribbon! 

The sum is small but the satisfaction - grand!

Mail from Norway...

I received this because one of my patterns 

is in the publication! Whoopee!

Five In Final Furlong

Sulky Interlude

Tardy Tatting

Slow.....slower...and.....slowest:

Half-way around row 5.

The Near Nasty

The Mystery Doily came close to suffering a humiliating demise.

Perhaps, just maybe I may have gained an ounce of severely delayed maturity;  I put the thing aside; I did NOT trash the many pages of pattern that have accumulated plus all of Jon’s photos and I kept the remaining tiny ball of Cébélia out of harm’s way. Not bad for a bad-tempered bull. : ))

Just look! It is finally correct. Four cuts into the row below is just insane! I used a photo of PattiD's, at InTatters that has coloured lines on it that separate the rows. For some reason this pic got through the dyslexic fog that I have been battling for days, Whew.

Here it is just after the last repair job:

Amazingly, I cannot see where I have fixed all those cuts, so I suppose the silver lining is that a) my ability to cut and repair has improved and b) the joins at the end of the rows do not terrify me in quite the same way.


Perfectionism (obsession with a prettier moniker) has its up-side.  : )

Perhaps you noticed the shuttles? They are Sunlits and surprisingly, I like them quite a bit. I am a bobbin-kind-a-gal, but these are not the same as Clovers, which I do not like at all.

They are flatter and very light like the Clovers, but the tip is straight and easier for me to manipulate.  I do like the colours as well. Anyone else liking or disliking them?

The problem for me with post shuttles is one of language. The words uttered in winding and unwinding them are not fit to print.

Perfect Pink Purchase

Found a super sale of a great little T-Shirt today for Mini-Boss. It is difficult recently to find clothing for kids that is not covered with logos or glitter.

Actually, it is way softer looking and a much paler pink pink rather than rose in real life. I will mail it to her in the morning.

T.I.A.S. 2013 - Thanks Sherry!

Three-On-The-Go: A Lot For Me!

1)

The Iris pattern is now understood. Finally. This is a complete element of the 6-repeat design. It lies flat with no blocking.

I cannot stand the colour, so after much muttering and internal debate and external blasphemy, I have decided to ditch this beginning and go with a new thread.

What is the point in going ahead if I dislike the colour? I realize I was just going to do so because it was tatted correctly. Bad reasoning. : )

2)

T.I.A.S.  Day 10

I still think it resembles an Amish-type carriage.

3)

ALMOST finished the 4th round of the Mystery Doily. I have learned the hard way not to tat this too late into the night, even if I am watching a movie. Too many slip-ups. This photo shows more buckling than there actually is. It lies pretty flat. I am happy.

Getting big - 8 inches.

This really is an amazing piece. Simple and repetitive, but at first baffling.

I am delighted that I struggled through the first bit, as this and the Victorian Trellis Doily are my all-time favourite pieces since I began the tatting life. : ))

Flat is Fantastic

In this case it is indeed!

Mademoiselle Doily is not buckling or cupping, both of which would be annoying or even disastrous. So far, all is good on Row 4. Funnily enough, I am still really enjoying this one!

Perfect Quilter is the best for Iris. This is the only thread that will 

allow me to tat this design without twisting and curling like crazy!
(Sulky was not bad, but this is even better.)

                                   

Snip!

I was reading about Jon’s mishap with the Mystery Doily and commiserating, thinking I was so lucky I hadn’t had to cut off any of the doily in the third round and I was well into the fourth, when I noticed something was amiss. Really wrong. You might say a complete disaster!

Following instructions in tatting and in life - not my forte. Here was yet another example of how this often leads me to unemployment or wasted thread.

Not only had I done the pattern wrongly in the fourth round, but when I started to snip away at the fourth row... yup, into the third row I cut - and cut.....  Ohhhhh, the language.

I had myself convinced that tatting was a dumb thing to do and I should just chuck the motif and all my thread and shuttles and everything. I felt I should just never tat again! What a mood!

Mr. G calmed me down. He gallantly shared his toys with me and we played for a bit till I was a better person. Quite maturely, (for a change) I  put the piece away till today, coming to whatever senses I might still possess and sat quietly fortified with very strong coffee and got to fixing the mess.

The good news is that I cannot even find the part I fixed! And I was truly dreading fixing it as I am so intimidated by the joining at the end of the row. Always. But since I am getting lots of practice, I was able to do it after only two un-tats!

Seeing where I had gone astray, I promised myself that I will READ the pattern before plunging ahead. I am not rushing.

I am tatting zen:

Round 4, Mystery Doily

Lizbeth Lament

Well, once again I had to abandon the Lizbeth#40 - WAY too twisty and knotty. Very naughty. Honestly, I have NO luck with this thread. The pattern is by Iris Niebach: Milena, from her "Tatted Doilies" book.

Here it is in Sulky:

Stephanie sent me this sample of Sulky, which InTatter’s Rachael says is about a #100!

How peculiar that the one round pattern in a #40 was impossible, so I tatted it in a #100 instead! Of course - makes perfect sense, Fox-style.

There was no need to press this ttting though I did wet it a bit to make the colours more vivid. The thread is very pastel when dry.

Here it is in Lizbeth:

Much pressing was done before this photo was taken.

Before the Lizbeth, I tried it in Perfect Quilter, but the pattern was too confusing in the variegated thread, both in the resulting tatting and in my ability to understand the directions. I could not see the flow...

The Perfect Quilter followed my first attempt, which I posted earlier, in a DMC #80 thread sent by Ninetta:

There you have it. I am finished with the pattern. As pretty as it is, long chain patterns are definitely not to my liking, and this one falls into the tortuous tatting category for me. 

Good to know I could now tat it, if I had the inclination, now that I finally seem to understand how this pattern works!

MYSTERY DOILY UPDATE 

Moving on to Row #4!

Lastly - this is fun to tat, from Nancy Tracy, in the Be-stitched Newsletter pattern:

Resplendently Red

A red ribbon, that is! 

In fact, two of them. : ))

I am in a bit of shock. Telling no one, I entered Renukek's Honey Napkin this week in a Tatting Competition at the Markham Fair - a huge event outside Toronto. There is a brief description of it below.

Took me hours to get to the fairgrounds and home again. Then I forgot about it till last evening when I had to go pick up my tatting.

When I handed in my ticket, the woman I gave it to disappeared and was gone a long time and I started to think maybe they lost my work, but then two women approached me with my tatting in hand - and a red ribbon and some other papers.

They said that they had never seen anything like it! I was sort of stunned and we chatted a bit and off I went.

It was not till hours later I saw I had been awarded another honour - I thought it was a fair advert or keepsake ribbon but it was a biggie! So, my tatting will go on display at another event. I am excited about all this, as it was so unexpected.

Thank you Renulek, for this marvellous pattern, and thank you all the tatters who encouraged me over the months of tatting this monster doily. 

Also, I will have to thank the owner of the little shop (Melodie Crochet) where I buy the Finca thread.

One of the regulations for entering an item is that you had to submit a sample of the original thread used in the work. This is to ensure that the participant is the authentic maker of the submission.

I had no more of that thread, for I gave the used balls away after I was finished. Never wanted to see them again!

So I went to the shop and asked the owner for three samples of the thread to attach to the tatting. She did not hesitate to cut off what I required from three new balls of thread and was very excited that I would enter the piece. Nice! 

I will return to the shop and show her the ribbon, for I would not have it were it not for her generosity.

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

2012 Cover Art by Sherri Redshaw

"Markham Fair is one of Canada oldest country fairs. Since 1844 the fair has been providing the community with a showcase for talents and products in a friendly competitive spirit. 

With over 750 volunteers working on more than 75 committees, Markham Fair is the largest community based volunteer organization in Canada.

Markham Fair occurs annually on the weekend before Thanksgiving, and hosts upwards of 60,000 attendees. 

Approximately 3,000 exhibitors will enter more than 12,000 items, which will be judged and put on display during the fair. Promoting excellence through competition in this way, is what makes fairs unique in comparison to other events."

Iris Is Such A Tease!

Iris Niebach has wonderful patterns and I am amazed at how easy they appear ... until I pick up my shuttles! So, here is one I am attempting - three times already -  from here:

I am working on it when I take a break from ... TA-DA!

I am so excited about this. It is sturdy and feels great to touch. I am enjoying it immensely and will do all the rows.  It was impossible for me to save it till the end to show my progress, but I am so pleased I wanted to show anyone who is following the trials and tribulations of those of us who are tatting the Mystery Doily. : )  Thanks to Georgia Seitz for starting this fascination years ago! 

Like Jon, who brought this to my attention, I am finding a bit of ruffling in the third row, and like Jon, I am hopeful that it will sort itself out.

Now... mail for Stephanie. We were involved in an exchange and I was baffled when a rather large package arrived. When I opened it, the size mystery was instantly solved when I saw the trat enclosed for Mr. G!

I didn’t even glance at the tatting things... not a look till after playtime.

You can see why:

Gian was so excited with this toy, he immediately removed one of its eyes! We have been having fun with it for days!

I ALMOST FORGOT!

The talented Nanetta has started a blog, here! This is exciting news. You can look at her tatting on Flickr, here.

I can’t wait to see what treats are in store for Tat-Land, now that Ms. Caruso has started a blog! : ))
Check it out.

Savouring Cèbèlia

This hanky border is finished except for two joining rings. It is a devil to untwist, and seeing that sewing and I do not exactly play well together, this should prove interesting... here it is wet with hot water. I am waiting for it to dry and will attempt to sew it on later.  : o

LATER!

Thanks, Connie! It is a beauty - very fine cotton. Delicate.

I used Perfect Quilter thread, 

whose fineness matched 

the fabric very well.

Also:

I am taking lots of little breaks, and playing around with random bits of thread, all the while working on and thoroughly enjoying, to my great surprise, the process of tatting the Mystery Doily with Cèbèlia #30. I say this because I have often grumbled about this thread.

However, I really liked the teal blue Cèbèlia that Sally sent me when I used it for the Trellis Doily and here I am again loving this ball of ecru.

My tatting has tightened up considerably over the past few months - at long last! This Mystery Doily will have to be pressed, as it has lots of body and feels very firm to the touch snd not a bit like my usual floppy tatting!

The thread is ecru, but with no yellow tinge and it is very pretty - close to white, but not. I am not fond of white thread and yet most ecrus are too brown for my liking. 

This thread really pleases me and is not - for a change - boring to tat with . I have been highly entertained with this pattern and thread. Hmmm, you have not heard that very often before! Maybe there is hope yet! : ))

More Help From My Friends

Marta just sent me another version of my pattern, "Pine Plains Picot." It looks amazing, Marta! Thank you very much for test tatting. Your tatting is beautiful. : )